I’m camped out in Drills 2 and 3 in Get out and Go Play course. I’ve been there for about a week hitting a few times a day into the net. The major change I have made is the right arm. The video Hand and Arm Placement really hit home for me with the right arm and what I was never able to do before. Using the check in the video I’m getting the right elbow tucked. And doing drills 2 and 3 has felt really weird. But over the week I’m getting more comfortable hitting the ball with those drills. I can actually get some punch just in the half swing and really feel the ball compression. It really feels amazing and doing this keeps the arms straight through to the end of the half swing. The wedge seems to be there all on it’s own and the arms are staying together. It really does feel weird but I’m seeing and feeling results with the half swing and doing those drills.
My question is for those who have done this and made it through to the full swing. I have not ventured to the next drills, yet, so I’m hoping the answers lie there. But, when you did this, how or when did the full swing start to occur? As of right now I’m feeling really comfortable with this half swing. But I have no idea how to get to finishing the full swing - I feel like it’s getting stuck with the club straight out. (I do see in other videos that the wrists re-hinge and just kind of roll up – but it feels too weird right now to try) And doing a take away to a full swing – how the heck do you get the right arm to fold and then keep that position of nice and tucked so it stays together with the lead arm in the down swing? As of now I can’t feel or see how either is going to happen. So I’m just working to get even more comfortable with the half swing as it’s such a new feeling. It really changes the swing compared to what I was doing before which wasn’t this. I now see why I was so hot and cold all of the time. Again, hopefully the questions are answered in the next 5 drills coming up or further in the course but I thought I’d ask for some feedback on those that have been able to do this. What was your experience? And does this kind of sound right? As of now the ball is just smashing off of the club face. It’s quite amazing. But this is going to take time to get to a full swing and I’m not going to rush it. Kind of hoping it’ll start to happen as I practice more and venture into the other drills and further into the course.
Update. I stayed camped out in drills 2 and 3 for awhile and then started to do a full swing. That in and of itself is not as easy as one might think. To keep it short I'll just say it's been a lot of trial and error. The biggest changes as of late are arms together and the 2.8 drills. My short game has really improved. And through the process I looked at myself at address in a mirror and I noticed I haven't been stacked over the ball for a long time. I put too much hip forward at address trying to keep the weight forward. I moved the weight back to about 55/45 as prescribed. Funny how we get numb to things. That felt weird. Went and played 9 holes and saw some improvement. My clubs were going farther and a couple we played with even commented on my draw. Played another 9 and it fell apart but not as destructive as usual - I've played better and I've played worse. I realized I went too far the other way and didn't have enough weight forward through the swing. Last night, I seemed to have found the balance of weight on lead leg, increasing weight in the back swing while still staying stacked. Have to stay stacked. Typically if I play 18 holes I'm still shooting around 110. Still pathetic. Last night - played 9 holes and shot a 44. My best 9 holes ever. Did not lose a single ball. I still have a long way to go and who knows how I'll play next time. But last night the ball flew how I always knew it could. I've been here 2 years and 2 months and every so often I look back and see how much I still did not know and why I was so inconsistent when I felt I should be better. In a few months from now I'm sure that will happen again. Before I started Tom's classes I never had a lesson in my life. I could play - sure - but I had no idea what I was doing. And I got a lot worse making all of the swing changes with Tom's classes before ever getting any better. I have learned so much. I watch other golfers and can see what they could be doing better. But teaching myself has been the biggest challenge. :) So, pushing on. More to do and learn to get more consistent. But, darn, If I could play the way I did last night all the time I'd be extremely happy. Hopefully, maybe for once, this is a stepping stone to finally getting better. Thank you, Tom. I hope to have more and better improving updates in the future.
Sounds like a breakthrough to me, @Alan Studnicky, based on the level of swing awareness you are now experiencing! Looking forward to your post-range report.
Nice work!!
Well, I might be making some progress. I’ve really been focusing on the drills and keeping the elbows together. I do have an upper back injury so this is taking some time as it would have, anyway. And I have tried full swings without moving further into some of the other drills. I can’t help it. I keep playing with this as it feels very different. Before I started back in these drills my videos showed me reaching for the ball and bent arms. Very ugly swing. I really had/have to reset. Now that my arms are straighter with my elbows more together I finally am experiencing the hand path different from the club head path. This I never achieved before. When I strike the ball into the net with my hands returning to what feels like address ( maybe out a little further but haven’t taken a video, yet) the contact feels really good. But it feels so weird to keep the hands from reaching out and swinging more down towards my body. When I find myself reaching for the ball (like I used to) I shank it. Before my arms were bent so I reached for the ball and could hit it. But I was never consistent. And I think my back injury is due to this as well. The past day when I would strike the ball focusing on my hands taking their own path which feels like the arms are straight down at impact I have no back pain. And it feels easier and the contact is clean. This will be a very hard habit to break. But I’m working on it. I also feel the follow through is working better as well with my left arm more tucked as the wrists re-hinge. I used to have a left arm slot machine (kind of like Tom always talked about with the trail arm). My lead arm was glued to my side but it moved back in the follow through when I tried to get my trail arm across my chest. I just feel so much more aware of my arms now. So, we’ll see what happens. I have to try this on the range but at least the net has felt pretty good. Just no evidence of ball flight, yet, to determine the progress. And will it stay consistent. Just thought I’d share to see if others have experienced the same thing or something similar.
Great work, @Alan Studnicky!!
It's perfectly fine to remain "camped out" in one drill until it is sufficiently ingrained that you can execute it comfortably and without much thought, as @Patrick Anlauf suggests. Then, as @Rudi (from Munich) says, proceed to the next "weird feeling". 😆
The drills are sequential and meant to be built upon the previous one. Some will take a lot of time to master, some not so much, and others you may find are not applicable because you've already nailed the desired result. And yes - many of these drills provide plenty of power to use on the course, and playing rounds of golf with a "drill swing" will really help you to reinforce the "feel" and effect that it is designed to produce.
Keep it crispy!!
Thanks, guys. :)
Congrats, weird feeling is good.
The inside of your ellbows should show away from your body. Guess this will help you later to do the "full"swing. If you haven't learned it till now you can built in the backswing-hinge.
I think if you have mastered a drill go to the the next step to get the next weird feeling.
Alan, you seem to be making steady progress. I am still with the half swing and seems to give me plenty of power with ball/divot crispy contact. I have gone beyond half swing and there is less control of ball pathway. When I went to the new swing, I had to think about many things and yes it felt awkward and weird. Now thoughts are minimal.